Fourteen countries issued a joint statement in Riyadh announcing a Saudi-led multinational maritime defense coalition to protect navigation through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden. [1] Thursday the charter still sits without a published escort log.

The founding text called the group purely defensive, not directed against any country, and said participation remains a sovereign decision. Saudi Arabia is the lead nation and will host the permanent headquarters, command center, joint operations rooms, and general secretariat. [1]

The National reported a first meeting of military representatives from 43 nations in Riyadh after Houthis resumed attacks on shipping and announced a blockade of Saudi vessels. Yanbu became a vital oil artery after Hormuz closed. [2] TBS listed Turkiye, Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Djibouti, Somalia, Bangladesh, Yemen, Sudan, and the Comoros among participants; the UAE and Oman had not joined. [3]

X wants a US proxy. The statement wants escorts, intelligence sharing, and exercises. Those are not the same navy. A coalition that names corridors without naming sorties is still a press release. Thursday prints the fourteen. It does not print the patrol. Yanbu still needs escorts, not another joint statement. Fourteen flags are not a published sortie.

-- YOSEF STERN, Jerusalem